WREXHAM enjoyed a pre-match party at the Racecourse – but the celebrations after the final whistle were all Grimsby Town's.
Saturday's Conference clash marked the Red Dragons' 150th anniversary, and boy did the Welsh support enjoy it, until the real action began.
A sell-out crowd of more than 8,000 packed into the ground as fireworks, male voice choirs and clowns on stilts kept them entertained as the rain poured down.
However, the home support's enthusiasm soon drained away as the Mariners completely dominated the first-half action.
In fact, Lenell John-Lewis' 28th minute spot-kick was the least the visitors deserved after enjoying 67 per cent possession in the opening 45 minutes.
Predictably, the Dragons came roaring back after the break, but Town defended resolutely and were full value for their victory on a huge afternoon for manager Paul Hurst and his squad.
"It was a big day for Wrexham – they had all their celebrations and rightly so," said Hurst.
"But both teams were there to play a game of league football and I thought we handled the occasion extremely well – with the exception of giving a corner away in the first ten seconds.
"We calmed the crowd down early on, played some good football, got on the ball, passed it quite well and certainly looked a threat.
"Sometimes in the past while I've been manager here, this team has been accused of not performing in front of big crowds – albeit more at home.
"But it's another fantastic result to add to our away record so far. It was resilient with some good blocks and not many saves for James McKeown to make.
"Overall, a clean sheet at Wrexham is a really good effort."
Toto Nsiala returned from suspension to regain his place at centre-half, with Danny Parslow moving into a midfield holding role.
Elsewhere, John-Lewis again led the line, supported by Scott Neilson and Jack Mackreth.
For the hosts, former Mariner Connor Jennings began on the bench, while summer target Wes York was in the Dragons' XI.
Spurred on by their vociferous support, the home side were immediately on the attack, forcing successive corners, which both needed punching away by Town stopper McKeown.
York's back-heel then gave striker Louis Moult time to fire off a shot on the edge of the visitors' box, which flew straight at McKeown.
Moments later, the Mariners broke with Neilson feeding Mackreth in the box before the winger sliced wide when he should have made home keeper Andy Coughlin work.
That gave Hurst's men some encouragement, and the manager's new-look formation began to enjoy sustained possession in their hosts' half.
Scott Brown exchanged passes with Craig Clay before dragging a 20-yarder wide, and even after losing the latter to injury, Town continued to look bright.
Andy Bishop headed well wide for Wrexham, but that was an anomaly as Neilson surged up the other end and saw a powerful shot deflected wide before Brown bent a free-kick over the bar.
Even right-back Carl Magnay was getting in on the act – testing Coughlin with a skidding cross-shot off the wet surface in the 25th minute.
The home faithful thought they had scored when Dean Keates' free-kick slid past the post. But Town were straight back up the other end - and in front - before the half hour mark.
Picking up the ball on the edge of the home box, Neilson shaped to shoot before playing in Thomas with a clever reverse pass.
The full-back was on the 'wrong' side of Mark Carrington, and the Wrexham man could only bundle him over, giving referee Brett Huxtable a simple penalty decision.
John-Lewis stepped up, but would he go the same away as the previous weekend's powerful, top corner spot-kick at Dartford?
No was the answer, as the frontman placed his shot low into the bottom left corner, out of Coughlin's reach, to give Town a previous advantage.
The Mariners continued to win virtually everything in midfield, playing the majority of the game in the hosts' half.
So confused were the Welshmen by Town's dominance that home boss Kevin Wilkin took advantage of a stoppage in play to call his entire side over to the dugout for emergency instructions.
That provided his men with some impetus before the break as veteran Keates clubbed another free-kick too high after Shaun Pearson's trip on Joe Clarke inches from the Town box.
Manny Smith nodded another set-piece wide as Wrexham's improvement continued, but that was to be the final action of a gripping first half.
The rain continued to pelt down when the second period kicked-off, and the home support were screaming unsuccessfully for a penalty of their own after 52 minutes when Keates collapsed under Nsiala's challenge.
Neilson carved a shot wide from 25 yards as Town responded, before home substitute Elliott Durrell saw his effort deflected wide as the Dragons ramped up the pressure.
McKeown grabbed York's low shot moments before Hurst made his second change of the afternoon – sending on Nathan Arnold for Neilson.
The hosts were controlling the game, with Durrell's cross landing on top of McKeown's goal before they were again appealing for a penalty when York went down far too easily after bumping into Nsiala.
Amazingly, there were more penalty calls when McKeown dropped a high cross under pressure from York, before hauling the winger down just outside the box. Huxtable gave a free-kick, much to York's disgust, and the keeper escaped with only a caution.
Jennings entered the action, but seconds later the hosts were down to ten men as Moult lunged in on Disley and was punished with a straight red card.
It was a break for the Mariners who had been under the cosh for most of the half.
Still the home side came, with Jennings planting a right-footer wide before seeing another powerful effort blocked in the final minute of the 90.
Unlike Richard Brodie recently, this former Mariners loanee wouldn't return to haunt Town, as the visitors held on and – perhaps – finally kick-started a frustrating campaign.
